Wheeled gun carriage



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., 8f, QS. H, HERLACH Zl? WHEELED GUN CARRIAGE Filed March 15, leali 4 sheets-sheet 2 Patented c't. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES WHEELED GUN CARRIAGE Heinrich Herlach, Berlin-Frohnau,

Waienl'abrik Solothurn A.G.,

assignor to Germany,

Solothurn, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Application March 15, 1934, Serial'No. 715,761

In Germany AprilV 1, 1933 8 Claims. (01.89-40) Guns which are to be taken as near as possible to the front fighting line in orderV to be brought to bear on targets which appear suddenly and move rapidly, for example tanks, must be able to be changed from their travelling trim and made ready to open lre as quickly as possible and, conversely, for a change of position, must be adapted to be changed quickly from their firing to their travelling trim. To obtain the wide range of traversing required, the gun carriage of such a gun is provided with trail legs Which are adapted to be spread apart, and to co-operate with a strut on the carriage to form a three-point support during firing.

Heretofore the strut was mounted in the body of the gun carriage and was adapted to be moved, after the manner of a lifting jack, relatively to the ground, by the action of the trail legs when spread apart so that the body of the gun car.

riage together with the wheeledA chassis was raised into a liring position. According to the present invention the trail legs are operatively connected with crank arms which vcarry the wheels and which are adapted to be pivoted separately or together in the vertical plane, so that when the legs are unfolded from the travelling trim in which the strut is raised from the ground and rests on the wheels, the swinging of the crank arms lowers the legs until they rest on the ground and form with the now lowered strut a three-point support for the carriage, and the wheels are relieved of the Weight of the carnage.

In contradistinction to the known form of construction of the gun carriage, the gun mass need no longer be raised andthe change from the travelling to the ring trim is thereby facilitated. A further advantage is that when the gun is in the firing trim, the height is considerably lower and greater stability and better chances of cover obtained. The transference of the gun carriage from ring to travelling trim is effected by the folding together of the trail legs, which, in consequence of the attendant swinging up of the body of the gun carriage about the crank arms, allows the wheels once more to support the gun carriage.

The drawings illustrate two typical embodiments of the invention, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional View of taken on line l-l of Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the gun carriage,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the gun carriage showing the parts in a diiTerent position taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 4,

a gun carriage lmately horiozntal position. 'Ihe body c of the Fig. 4 is a plan'view of the gun carriage of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a m'odied gun carriage taken on line 5--5` of Fig. 6, j Y

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the gun carriage of '5 Fig. f5. Y

Fig. 7 is a sectional viewof the gun carriage showing the parts 1n a diierent position taken on line 'l-l of Fig. 8, and

Fig. 8 is a plan view of Fig.` 7.

The body c of the gun carriage, which carries in'a laterally pivotable cradle a the gun b (for example a 2 cm. machine gun) ls, when in travelling trim, carried by thewheels d Which 15 then rest on the ground and which, by means of their bearing pins e, are mounted on crank arms y adapted to pivot separatelyA or together on an axle of the body c.

On the axle f, which is rotatable in the body 20 there is fixed between the bearings c1 and each crank arm g, a bush lc having a shoe-like attachvment Ici in which is inserted one end of a leaf spring l, the other end of which bears against the bearing pin e. At the rear of the body c of ther25 gun carriage the trail legs h, which are adapted to be spreadapart, are articulated. These legs are each provided o n one end with laterally projecting eye members i which together with the Connecting rods m, one end of each of whichV engages in an eye, the other end of each rod being articulated to a spring housing k1, constitute a gear connection with the wheelswinging mechanism. A base plate n fixed Vunder the body c of the gun carriage or mounted therein so as to' be adapted to' be raised Vor lowered, formsthe front strut of the gun carriage.

When in the travelling trim (Figs. 1 and 5) the trail legs h, which are folded togethertor form a trail, exert a pull on the rods m and this causes thespring housing k1, to turn into such a position that the leaf springs tted therein, by the pressure of their ends onthe bearing pins e, keep the crank arms g hovering in an approxithe gun carriage of 10 gun carriage, together with the strut n, is raised from the ground and, duringtravel, can be deected about the axle f in relation to the wheels. In order to prevent the springs being subjectedv to undue stressgthe pivotal range of movement of the crank arms g in relation toy the spring housing k1 is` limited by the stops k2 onrthe latter. Y

In order that the gun may be transferred into firing trim, the legs h are moved apart laterally 55 out of their folded position. This movement is followed by the mechanism l, k1, 1c, m so that the spring housing k1 swings in the anti-clockwise direction about the axle f, lowering the body c of the gun carriage and causing the crank arms g to swing downwards until the strut n rests upon the ground. The three-point support of the gun carriage necessary for stability during ring is thus provided by the members h and n, and the wheeled chassis relieved of the weight.` In order that this eifect may be obtainable even when the ground is uneven, the mechanism between the legs h and thewheels is so designed that when the legs are spread apartand before they reach their extreme outer position, the gun carriage has been lowered until its support 11. rests on the ground. In the example of construction illustrated in Figs. 1-4, for this purpose lost motion is provided in the mechanism actuating the spring housing Ici when the legs are opened out* laterally to lower the gun carriage, so that after the support n reaches and rests on the ground the legs h may be further swung laterally outwards to their extreme positionwithout `further influencing the wheels d.

In order, however, that the stability of the Vgun carriage in the ring position may be increased, use may also be made, with advantage, of the weight of the wheels. For this purpose, in the second form of construction illustrated in Figs.

` 5 to 8, the push rods m are each connected with arm i by means of a universal or ball joint. After the gun carriage has been lowered until the support n rests on the ground and on the further spreading apart of the legs h, these positive connectionscause the wheels to be lifted from the ground, as indicated in Fig. 7.

In order that the gun carriage may be returned from firing position into travelling trim, it is merely necessary for the legs h to be closed together. This operation causes the rods m, which are constrained to join in the movement, to turn the spring housing k1 about the axle f, thus causing theY springs Z to be deflected and consequently the body of the gun carriage is lifted while at the same time the crank arms `g swing up-wards about the bearing pins e.

Finally, in order that it may also be possible to re the gun inthe travelling position, the wheel suspension is adapted to be relieved and put out of operation. Coupling bolts o (Fig. 6) mounted in the spring housing k1 are, forthis purpose, adapted to be inserted by means of a handle o1 into suitably disposed bolt holes in the crank arms g, so that the latter, when the supporting legs h are closed, are fixed in relation to the body c of the gun carriage and are prevented from swinging.

Iclaimz- 1. In a wheeledgun carriage, a body in which the Igun is mounted, crank arms on said body supporting the wheels and adapted to oscillate in a vertical plane either separately or together, a strut on the body, housings on the body, leaf springs having one end fitted in the housings and the other end bearing against the crank arms, trail legs pivotally connected to the body and adapted to be spread apart, and mechanical connecting members between each'- leg and one of the housings so constructed that when the legs are closed together for travelling the strut may be raised from the ground until the gun carriage rests 'on the wheels, while when spread apart, the trail legs swing the crank arms to lower the body until the strut rests on the ground and cooperates with said legs to form a three-point support relieving the wheels of the weight.

2. In a wheeled gun carriage as claimed in claim 1, the .arrangement that the spring housings are pivotally mounted on an axle coaxially with the crank arms.

3. In a wheeled gun carriage as claimed in claim l, the arrangement that the pivotal range of movement of the crank arms in relation tothe spring housings is limited by stops on the spring housings.

4. Ina wheeled gun carriage as claimed in claim 1, means operable when the trail legs .are closed together to render the wheel suspension inoperative said means including'coupling members engaging the crank arms and the spring housings.

ed by means of an axle in the body, wheels mounted on said cranks, spring suspension means between the axle and the wheels, a pair of trail legs joined to the body and capable of being spread apart when changing the carriage from a travelling to a firing position, a strut mounted on the body inoperative in the travelling position and cooperating in the firing position with the trail legs to form a three-point support for the body relieving its support by the wheels, and connections between the trail legs and the cranks operable by spreading theV said legs to bring the strut into-'wheel relieving position.

6. A gun carriage according to claim 5, in which the connections are so constructed that the body and the gun may be lowered until the strut rests on the ground, before the trail legs reach their extreme spread position. v

'7. A gun carriage comprising a body in which the gun is mounted, cranks each rotatably mounted by means of an axle in the body, wheels mounted on said cranks, spring suspension means between the axle and the wheels, a pair of trail legs jointed to the body and capable of vbeing spread apart when changing the carriage from a travelling to a ring position, a strut mounted on the body inoperative in the travelling position and cooperating in the ring position with the trail legs to form a three-point support for the body relieving its support by the wheels, and

connections between the trail legs and the cranks operable by spreading the said legs to bring the strut into wheel relieving position, said connections including lost motion means whereby the lastpart of the spreading movement of the trail legs is performed without relative movement between the wheels and the body.

8. A gun carriage comprising a body in which the gun is mounted, cranks each rotatably mounted by means of an axle in the body, wheels mounted in said cranks, spring suspension means between ther axle and the Wheels, a pair of trail legs jointed to the body and capable of being spread apart when changing the carriage from a travelling to a firing position, a strut mounted on the body inoperative in the travelling position and cooperating in the firing position with the trail legs to form a three-point support for the body relieving its support by the wheels, and positive connections between the cranks and the trail legs operable by spreading the latter to bring the strut into contact withthe ground and to raisethe wheels therefrom.

Y HEINRICH I-IERLACH. 

